Baseball Quiz Time

Last night, we had the pleasure of watching the Rockies give away a victory to the Houston Astros late in the game. It was stupendous. But mostly terrible. However, this was not the worst part of the game. The worst part of the game was the guy who sits behind us for 12 games out of the year. He is a old curmudgeon who has admitted that he never played baseball, yet constantly tells us why we are wrong about the strategy of the game. Last night, he took it to a new level. First, let's set the scene.

The Rockies were down by one run (4-3) in the bottom of the 9th. After getting the first out, Ian Stewart is sent in to pinch hit for Clint Barmes against the right handed closer Matt Lindstrom. He draws a walk, which puts the tying run at first base with one out. Jonathon Herrera comes in to pinch run for Stewart as Jason Giambi strolls to the plate to pinch hit in the pitcher's spot. Giambi proceeds to hit a long, high fly ball to deep left field that the left fielder caught up against the wall for the 2nd out. Herrera had advanced to 2nd on the fly, then retreated to first after the catch.

Now here is where our disagreement started: did Herrera run the bases in the correct manner?

Augie, Noel, Vicki, John, Robert, Natalie, Katie, Jorge, Sarah and I all said that Herrera ran the bases correctly. Hell, even Emerson and Riley agreed with us. The idiot behind us was screaming at Herrera for not tagging up. Carlos Gonzales ended up grounding into a fielder's choice and the game was over. This did not stop the moron behind us from screaming at Herrera for his base running. We defended Herrera's decision and chirped back at the old bastard. After he got all hot and bothered and Robert put him in his place, he finally left and we were allowed to quietly enjoy the walk to the car. After thinking about it more, I am completely convinced that we were right and he was wrong. Do you agree? Let me explain my reasoning.

First, let us look at the absolute best and worst case results for each scenario.

Herrera advancing to 2nd on the fly: 
There are three possible outcomes to this play:

• The ball leaves the yard - Herrera continues on to home as the tying run, Giambi as the winning run.
• Left fielder catches the ball - Herrera returns to first with 2 outs.
• Left fielder does not catch the ball - Herrara either advances to third with one out (1st and 3rd with one out), scores the tying run (Giambi at 1st or 2nd with one out), or is thrown out at home attempting to score the tying run (Giambi at 2nd with 2 outs).

Herrera tagging at first base:
Same three possibilities:

• The ball leaves the yard - Herrera and Giambi both score. Game over.
• Left fielder catches the ball - Herrera either advances to 2nd on the tag with two outs in the inning or he is thrown out at 2nd for the 3rd out of the inning. Game over.
• Left fielder does not catch the ball - Herrera makes it to 2nd with one out in the inning.

Looking at the two different viewpoints, isn't it obvious that Herrera did the correct thing on the base path? The way he played it, he gave himself a chance to score (he potentially scores on the missed fly ball). The way the moron behind us wanted him to play it, the best he can do is GET TO SECOND. If I am a manager down by a run with only a couple outs to work with, I make sure I try anything to get that tying run across the plate. I am 100% certain that Herrera, Tracy, and Hill made the correct move when they sent Herrera on the fly.

One more thing about the dumbass behind us - this is not the first time we have had a verbal spat with the guy. He constantly questions the Rockies decisions despite the fact that everyone around him agrees the Rockies played it correctly. Since he talks the entire game and since I am sitting with a bunch of people who have big mouths (myself included), we are constantly questioning his reasoning. Yesterday's ridiculous vitriol was just so aggravating because we knew for a fact that he was wrong. Completely. Yet he was the one who called us all idiots as he left his seat.

Even with my big mouth, I tend to avoid subjects where I am clueless. This guy should learn to do that and never talk about baseball again. Every time he opens his mouth, he comes this much closer to having a pregnant lady punch him in the face. IN THE FACE!!!

One last thing - Robert did have the quote of the night. It was, "How have you lived that long and still not know how to play baseball?!!"

I'd love to hear some feedback to see if my reasoning stands up. Let's hear it. 

Til the next post,
Mikey

There was a riot on the streets tell me where were you?

Sarah Needs Her Dansko's:
If you have never listened to anything I have said before, listen to this: NEVER buy shoes from www.ComfortShoesNY.com. We placed an order for some Danskos for Sarah two months ago, were charged for the shoes within a couple days and have yet to see the shoes. When we originally asked them for a status update, they responded saying that they would be shipped on or before April 28th. It is now June and all of our additional attempts at communication have been ignored. To put this in perspective, we also ordered a pair of Danskos for Sarah on www.Zappos.com on the same day. They were sitting on our front porch the next day when we got home from work.

So to recap: buy from Zappos, punch ComfortShoesNY in the face.

Twitter Update:
As of this evening, this is the story for @flickerbock:

• Following 57
• 41 Followers
• 485 Tweets

I joined Twitter on September 1st of last year. Over the 9+ months following, I have learned an absolute boatload. First of all, following celebrities is mostly a complete waste of time. Usually their tweets involve (a) info on the project they are currently working on, (b) details on their favorite charity, (c) some obscure reference to some C-lister that no one knows, or (d) some combination of the those three. These tweets did not add any value to my life. At all. After some trial and error and some purging of my account, the people I follow can be divided into four groups: my friends and family, photography people, sports reporters/athletes, the four random celebs that have remained interesting (@ConanOBrien, @JimmyKimmel, @RainnWilson, and @TonyHawk). If you are not on Twitter and are thinking about joining, I would recommend it completely (especially if you are a baseball fan). Just make sure you come find me on there!

Jim Joyce is the Worst Person in the World
If you happen to be a baseball fan, then you probably heard about the plight of Armando Galarraga. He is a pitcher for the Tigers who happened to get 26 consecutive batters out. If you do the math, this put him just one away from a perfect game. The next batter hit a grounder between first and second. The first baseman snagged the ball, flipped it to Galarraga at first, and the team started celebrating. One problem, though - idiotic first base umpire Jim Joyce called the runner safe. Galarraga ended up getting out of the inning for the complete game shutout, but some moron umpire ruined that kid's chance at perfection. Now if you know me, you know how I feel about Bud Selig. For every thing that he gets right (Wild Cards), he messes up ten other things (steroids, contraction, All Star Games, etc). If he was a good commissioner, he would review the tape, talk to Joyce about the call, and reverse it. Game over. Perfection accomplished. Let's hope that this is one of the few things that Selig handles correctly. I have some serious doubts, though.

The Rockies Finally Figured Out That They Are The Rockies
Right now the Rockies are down 3-1 in the 6th inning. Even if they drop this game, they will still be three games above .500. They are finally having some things bounce their way. Their lineup is getting healthy and they are winning games that they should be losing. Hopefully they can get a bit of a run going. I would love to see them win the NL West and do some damage in the playoffs. And I really need them to win 86 games so that I can make some straight cash homey.

Til the next post,
Mikey